Deadly Game
by punkydiva17
Summary: *Story Completed* AU. LitaBatista. Six teenage WWE Superstars are dragged into a life-threatening game. Will anyone make it out alive?
1. Lita

_**Chapter One - Lita**_

_Seventeen year-old Lita opened her locker and exhaled, putting the last of her books inside. Thank God for the man that created weekends. She looked in the mirror on the door, and smoothed her rich red hair down around her face. _

_"Hey." _

_Lita jumped, but turned around to face her good friend, Candice Michelle. Candice was dressed up in a black halter top and a short frayed denim skirt with knee high boots. Lita always had to admit, Candice definitely knew how to turn the head of the men around her. Her long coffee dark hair was back in a high ponytail, and she carried that wand around with her. To this day, even though she had known Candice since the first day of the eighth grade, she could never figure out why Candice carried that wand around. It looked like a cheap dollar store wand with a purple star on top. She hated it. But Candice carried it everywhere, and since she liked Candice, she would tolerate the fact that a seventeen year-old would carry a wand. _

_"Wow. Jumpy or what?" Candice replied. "You okay?"_

_"Yeah," Lita replied, slamming her locker shut. "Just...a long day."_

_"Did you see the way that Dave Batista was staring at you today?" Batista happened to be in their history class. "I swear, if he could have drowned in his own saliva, he would have." It was no secret that Candice was involved with Shelton Benjamin, star of the track and field team. They had been going steady for several months now. _

_Lita smiled. "I didn't notice," she replied as they walked down the hallways. Lita gave a quick wave to Mickie James, who was chattering to Ashley Massaro and Victoria. Those three were like the Three Musketeers at their school. _

_"You coming out to Torrie's party tonight?" Torrie Wilson was having a winter party to celebrate the holiday season. Her mother and stepfather had gone out for the holidays to Mexico, leaving Torrie all by herself. _

_"Can't," Lita replied. "I got grounded," she added, her voice in a grumble._

_"What? You never mentioned that last night," Candice replied, "what happened?"_

_"Just...Eric being an ass." Eric Bischoff, her mother's new boyfriend, was making life difficult. "He decided my music was just two decibels too loud and grounded my ass for a week."_

_"What about your mom?" Candice inquired._

_"My mom is still in that love is blind stage, so she'll follow him to Timbuktu if she could," Lita murmured, her voice taking on that gloomy tone of hatred and apathy. They walked out of the glass doors and down the front concrete steps. _

_"Just sneak out. Normally, I wouldn't recommend you doing such an underhanded thing, but, quite frankly, Eric is a douche." They laughed. _

_"That he is," she replied, as they walked through the parking lot to Lita's car. It was a rundown, used red Chevy, but Lita loved it, and she couldn't imagine life without it. _

_"So just come on out."_

_"We'll see," Lita replied. "Mr. Michaels just gave me a ton of history homework."_

_"Okay. Give me a call if you are, and I'll come pick you up." Lita nodded, climbed into her car and drove away._

_Lita's mind was racing as she sat in her bedroom that night, her cell phone in her hand. Eric and her mother had gone out to the theater to see the play "Cats." Lita shuddered. She remembered when her Drama teacher, Mr. Cool, had shown her the musical. She hated it so much, she was just tempted to run into the play with a spray bottle of water. It was wretched. But she was happy. The time alone was what she wanted. She couldn't stand coming home to Eric anymore. She just wished it was her and her mother. The way it should be. _

_She thought about it. Her grounding would be bigger than this if she got caught sneaking out. But, why was she really grounded? Because Eric didn't like "Click Click Boom"?_

_She quickly hit a few buttons in her cell phone. "Candice? Yeah, I've decided to come out to Torrie's. Wanna meet me?" She nodded. "Ten minutes. Outside. See you then." She hung up the phone and savored the feeling of liberation that just washed over her. _

_Twenty minutes later she was still waiting for Candice. She couldn't figure out what was taking her friend so long. Torrie was only on the outskirts. A ten minute drive tops. But there she was still waiting, and if Eric and her mother got back soon, she would really be in for it. _

_"Lita..." _

_She turned around. Where the hell did the voice come from? "Hello?" she called out into the night. "Edge? That you?" Edge was the star of the football team, and he was as arrogant as his good friend, star quarterback Randy Orton. Edge was his co-hort, a runningback. _

_"Lita..."_

_She turned around and that's when all went black. _


	2. Batista

_**Chapter Two – Batista**_

_She was beautiful. She always sat, third seat up, beside the window. He loved the way the sunlight shone on her red hair. He loved her style, too; that punky, athletic, don't mess with me kind of a look. _

_He had been thinking about her more and more lately. When he went home and ate dinner, he thought of her. When he was doing homework, he thought of her. When he was just in the gym working out, she was all he could think about. He had known her since the tenth grade, and he had always been too nervous to even approach her. _

_He caught her best friend Candice looking at him, and he averted his eyes quickly. He could feel a blush running up his neck. He stared down at his notebook as Mr. Michaels droned on and on about World War II or something stupid like that. He didn't care. Two rows over from him sat an angel in red. He just wanted to pass her a note, asking her out. But he didn't know. Candice was seeing Shelton Benjamin, so it was no secret Lita rolled with the athletic crowd. He was athletic, too, but Randy Orton, Edge and Shelton weren't exactly his friends. _

_The bell rang and it symbolized the end of class. Shutting his notebook, he gathered his things, his backpack and walked out of the room, noticing the suspicious eye that Candice was suddenly casting at him. _

_He was at his locker, putting his stuff back, when he got approached by his good friend, Rey Mysterio. "Hey, Rey," he replied, shutting his locker. "What's up?"_

_"You get the invitation?" he asked. _

_"Invitation for what?" he asked, curious. They were on their way to the school gym for another workout. _

_"Torrie's party tonight. I know she sent you one. She was telling me about it. I got mine the other day."_

_"No, I can honestly say I didn't get it."_

_"Well, come on, you big loner. Come out to the party. Lady Lita is going to be there." _

_"She is?" _

_"Yeah. I heard her and Candice talking about it." Rey was lying, of course. He just didn't like Batista being such a loner. Anything to get him out; even if he had to use Lita._

_"I don't know, Rey."_

_"Come on, tonight's the night that she'll notice you. I'll see to it. Would you just come on out?"_

_Batista took a deep breath as he sat at the bench pressing machine. "Okay, Rey. What time did Torrie's invite say the party was going to be at?"_

_"Seven."_

_"Okay. So did you want to meet up and head over there, or meet you there?"_

_"I can come get you," Rey offered, working the leg presses. _

_"Okay. So be ready by seven?"_

_"Make it seven-thirty," Rey told him. "You want to be fashionably late to catch a few eyes." Batista laughed. "Come on; you could be a real ladies man if you tried."_

_"You kidding?" Batista scoffed. "Did you hear the latest about Ken?" Ken Kennedy was the star player for their soccer team, and recently had a scuffle when he was caught by his girlfriend Layla El with Ashley Massaro. _

_"Yeah. I heard things got pretty ugly," Rey commented. _

_"There's a reason Ken's not playing for the next few weeks," Batista replied with a laugh, upping the weight by twenty pounds. "Layla took it to him."_

_Rey laughed. "Layla's a tough cookie," Rey commented. "She's head cheerleader for a reason. She can kick some ass. What time is it?"_

_"Three thirty."_

_"Damn! I gotta go. I promised my mom I'd take Vato to the vet today." Vato was the family dog. "See you tonight, big guy."_

_"Later, Rey." Rey Mysterio was soon gone from the weight room, leaving Batista to lift the weights by himself. _

_He didn't like being alone in the weight room. It was wooden, and old, and it had one of those old-horror movie vibes to it. So, with Rey's absence, Batista decided to cut his workout short. Anyway, Lita was going to be at the party tonight. He was going to get ready. _

_"Dave..."_

_He wheeled around. He was amidst all the lockers, dressed in black pants and a white muscle-shirt. He was mystified. "Orton, that you?" He shrugged it off and slung his backpack over his shoulder, preparing to leave._

_"Dave..."_

_"Oh, for crying out..." he trailed off as he made his way between the lockers. "Okay, whoever this is, come out and I promise I won't kick your ass." Might not be the full truth; he wasn't in a good mood about Rey talking him into this party. _

_He felt somebody ram into him and that's when all went black. _


	3. John Cena

_**Chapter Three – John Cena**_

_"John Cena, would you just please get to work?"_

_"It's the last class of the day on a Friday, man, you should know how it rolls." He was, of course, talking to Mr. Lashley, the physical education teacher. They were running plays in the indoor hockey unit. With the snow outside, it wasn't like they could do much else. The bell rang. "See?" He smiled. "Good to have this talk. Good times, good times." He gave Mr. Lashley a pat on the shoulder and took off to the men's change room to get himself cleaned up. _

_"Party at Torrie Wilson's tonight!" he called out into the crowded locker room. The room went up in loud cheers. He began to get himself ready to take a shower. He looked over at Jeff Hardy, who was on his cell phone to his girlfriend, Jillian Hall. "Yo, man, you rollin' to Torrie's with Jill tonight?"_

_Jeff put a hand over the mouth of his cell and shook his head. "Movie night," he replied with a grimace._

_"How bad?"_

_"_The Last Kiss."

_"Ouch." Jeff nodded and went back to talking to Jillian. "Who's all going to Torrie's tonight?"_

_"Mel and I are heading over," Johnny Nitro informed him. "We know Candice is a for sure, so Shelton will probably be there, too." _

_"I swear, those two are straight up joined at the hip," Cena mused, going into the shower stall. _

_When he came out, there was nobody there but Mr. Lashley. Cena was slightly surprised by his appearance, but decided to play casual. "S'up?" he asked._

_"Why do you make things difficult for me, Cena?" he asked. _

_"Lash, Lash, Lash," Cena replied, his voice full of humor. "You're a first year teacher, am I correct?"_

_"What's the point?"_

_"You're going to have many students worse than I am," Cena replied. "I'm just hooking you up with a preview." Mr. Lashley laughed as Cena sat down and laced up his Reebok pumps. "Plans for the weekend?"_

_"Grading your performance," Mr. Lashley said. "For as much of a pain in the ass that you are, Cena, I have to admit, you're one hell of an athlete."_

_"Thanks. I've been thinking about going for football in the spring."_

_"Aren't you graduating this year?"_

_"You think my grades are bad here, you should see my other classes," Cena mused. Mr. Lashley laughed. _

_"That bad?"_

_"It'd take two of me to make it worse." He laughed._

_"Ever thought about picking up the slack?"_

_"Too much work." This prompted more laughter out of his teacher. "I gotta get rolling. Party at Torrie's tonight."_

_"Oh, you're the one that's been shouting that all day. I should have guessed."_

_"That girl's parties are like...they're off the hook," Cena replied. "Booze, chicks..." Mr. Lashley laughed; Cena was definitely one who was candid about anything. "Have a good weekend, man. See you next year."_

_"You, too, Cena. Try not to get into too much trouble this holiday season."_

_"Shit...don't you know trouble's my middle name?" Mr. Lashley laughed and Cena was out of sight. _

_Dressed in his casual attire – a Mitchell and Ness jersey with denim cutoffs, pumps and a visor, John ran down the steps of his home towards the front door. _

_"Have fun at your party tonight," he heard his mother call out from the living room. _

_"Trust me, Mom, I will," he called back, closing the door behind him. He bolted down the front steps and towards the car. _

_The last thing that he remembered was that he was unlocking his car door. Then everything went black. _


	4. Maria

_**Chapter Four – Maria**_

_Maria was seated in front of her vanity table, staring at her reflection in the mirror, her face a vision of apathy mixed with dispair. She had just moved to Stamford a few months ago, and she was already depressed with the fact that she didn't have a man by her side. She was friends with Lita and Candice, and she had her eye on John Cena, but nothing was coming to fruition with that. _

_She was debating on whether or not she wanted to go to Torrie's party tonight. Candice was insistent she go, but Lita didn't seem all that interested._

_Her last period had been a study block, so she came home early. Anything to get out of that school, where idiots like Edge ran the hallways. The other day, he had filled Eugene's locker with worms and dead leaves. It smelled like a rotting corpse in Eugene's locker and when he opened it and it ruined all of his books, Edge just laughed at him and mimicked him. She shuddered; Edge was a total jerk, and from what she heard, she didn't feel all that confident about Randy Orton either. _

_But John Cena seemed different than that. He was funny, he was loud, he did everything big. And it was something about him that she absolutely admired. She loved sitting in her geometry class, staring at him out the window as he played football. If only he knew that she was totally in love with him. The last time she had this feeling was when she was in the eighth grade, with a little twirp named Mikey. He was a cheerleader at her middle school. _

_The cordless phone on her vanity surface rang, taking her out of her moments of deep thought, and she answered it on the second ring. "Hello?"_

_"Maria, Candice."_

_"What's up?" she asked, staring at the mirror as she played with her hair, making funny faces into the mirror. _

_"I got Lita to come along to the party. We just need you. What do you say?"_

_"I don't know..." Maria was still hesitant._

_"I got word that Cena himself will be there tonight."_

_"You serious?" she asked. _

_"Dead serious. Want me to swing by and grab you when I get Lita?"_

_"Yeah. What time are you getting Lita?"_

_"Seven." Maria looked at her clock. It was six forty-five. _

_"How about I meet you at Lita's at seven-ten?" Maria asked. "I still have to get ready."_

_"You do your thing, girl. See you then." Maria hung up the phone. Her heart felt lighter. She was going to a party and John Cena was going to be there!_

_She went to her closet and pulled out a black leather miniskirt and a lime green fishnet top. She quickly changed and put on black knee-high boots that zipped up. She looked at her honey colored hair and she tried to decide what she was going to do with it. After giving it a quick tease, she left it at that. She was staring at the clock the entire time that she was applying her makeup; after all, she had a short amount of time to get ready and get to Lita's. _

_"Maria..."_

_Maria straightened up and turned around, staring at the open window. "Candice, you here already?" she asked, moving towards the open window. She looked out the window to find nobody down below._

_"Maria..." the voice was in her ear, then all went black. _


	5. Randy Orton

_**Chapter Five – Randy Orton**_

_The air was frost-bitingly cold as Randy jogged through the park. He was in training for football. His dad wasn't pressing him about it; this was just something he felt he needed to do. And with Mr. Ross running the team, he knew that things were going to get rough. A die-hard, Southern boy from Oklahoma, Mr. Ross was going to expect nothing but the best from Randy and his teammates._

_He had tried to talk Edge into coming along with him, but Edge had bigger plans. He wanted to hook up with Torrie Wilson at her party tonight, and he was at home, "pimping" himself up, as he put it. The thought of it brought a smile to his face as he jogged along the snowy paths, his running shoes crunching on the snow. _

_He was looking forward to Torrie's party. It had been a long four months for him. Aside from being on the basketball team, he managed to maintain a GPA of 3.0. Of course, with his football training, homework, working out and basketball, he was seriously lacking a woman in the girlfriend department. Tonight, it was his plan to get with somebody, anybody. He was really looking at Lilian Garcia, the school's resident singer-songwriter. He had to admit it; he had a small thing for blondes. _

_He kept jogging, his breaths coming out in smoke gray puffs of white in the cold winter sky. He was going to be busy within the next week. He hadn't started Christmas shopping and he and Edge were organizing a New Year's Eve bonfire. His good friend John Cena was already invited; after all, Cena was what he was – the life of the party. _

_Cena, Edge and Randy had all been good friends since elementary school, when Cena moved to Stamford from Boston, a place he still affectionately refers to as home. The three of them had formed together and in their school years managed to dominate the academic athletics departments. Their homes were adorned with all the plaques and trophies that they had obtained during wrestling, hockey, basketball, baseball, football, whatever sport garnered their interest at that particular moment. _

_His headphones were stuck tightly in his ears, Metallica's "Enter Sandman" providing noise in the otherwise silence. He had asked Cena to come along with him, but Cena had gone to pick up a couple cases of beer for Torrie's party. So it was just him all alone, jogging to keep in shape. _

_He had heard of all the people showing up at Torrie's party. That new girl, Maria, was going to be there. She seemed nice, kind of the brainy type. Candice was going to be there, which equaled Shelton, Johnny and Melina, Cena, himself and Edge were going to be there, Lilian, Mickie James, Ashley, Rey, and if Rey was going then he would probably talk Batista into it. Torrie's place was going to be so crammed tonight, he felt bad for her when she had to clean it. _

_This was it; he needed to stop. His breathing ragged, his breaths coming out in shallow smoke, he bent over, hands on his quadriceps, trying to catch his breath as the next song - "Sad But True" came on. _

_"Randy..."_

_He took out a headphone and turned around. "What, you finally coming through, Edge?" he called out. There was nothing but the deafening sound of silence that responded back. He turned around to stick his headphone back into his ears, but all went black. _


	6. Layla

_**Chapter Six: Layla **_

_"Okay, ready...let's go!"_

_Layla was alone in her basement, trying to work out some new cheers for next season in football. As captain of the cheerleading squad, it was her duty to come up with some interesting, fun cheers. She was agile, she was athletic; but, after all the years of dance training she had under her, it was expected of her to be what she was. _

_She was still upset; it had been two weeks since she had caught Ken cheating on her, but it still hurt. She hated him for it. She was working more feverishly on cheers, she found, since he had stabbed her in the back like that. A year of dating didn't mean anything obviously. That's why she got back at him, and why she was now the talk of Stamford High. _

_Torrie Wilson's party was tonight, and Ken was going to be there, so Layla opted not to go. Torrie wasn't happy that Layla wasn't coming along, but there wasn't much that she could do about it, so she just bit her lip and stayed quiet about it. Layla appreciated that and told her fellow cheerleader she would she her when the season started. _

_She went to her boom box and turned on "Love Thing" by the Spice Girls. Say what you will about the five ladies from London, but they had beats that could be danced to, and Layla was going to prove just that. _

_Several hours later, Layla emerged upstairs, drenched with sweat. It had taken hours, but she finally had a great cheer routine for the ladies when they got back from the holidays. She went to her refrigerator and took out a can of Pepsi. Popping the top open, she went upstairs to the bathroom and started the shower. _

_Her parents wished she didn't push herself so damn hard. But Layla knew that greatness wasn't just handed to you; it was something that you had to earn. So she worked harder than any other girl at school, and that's how she managed to get the head cheerleading spot. It was a real clique world that she was entangled in, but Layla was a girl who would sell her soul for greatness. _

_Finishing her soda, she got into the shower and cleaned up from her extensive routine, singing "Love Thing" in the shower. She couldn't help it; the song was just about as catchy as "Milkshake" was when it came out. _

_Grabbing a towel off of the towel rack, she wrapped her small frame with the towel and got out of the shower. After getting into a white spaghetti strapped top and plaid pajama bottoms with a drawstring, she dried her hair and left it on top of the washer in the closet before leaving the room. _

_She was kind of thankful that her parents had joined Lita's parents to go see "Cats" tonight. They had been concerned about the way that she had been pushing herself ever since she and Ken broke up. And they had made no qualms about bringing it up at the dinner table, prompting Layla's eating habits to dwindle, as she no longer looked forward to eating dinner. _

_She went downstairs and started popping popcorn. She had the original _A Nightmare on Elm Street _in her bedroom on top of her DVD player, and if it killed her, she was going to enjoy it. It was going to be her, herself and Freddy Krueger. She wasn't complaining._

_When the popcorn was done, she grabbed another can of Pepsi out of the fridge and made her way up the stairs to enjoy the movie._

_Layla was curled up in the fetal position in bed, watching Tina's infamous death scene when she heard pebbles getting knocked at her bedroom window. Her paranoia heightened, knowing that Freddy Krueger had thrown pebbles at Tina's window, she jolted up and panicked. Then she laughed at herself._

_"Get a hold of yourself, Layla," she advised herself. "You're just being a wuss." She went to the window and took a look outside. There was nobody there. Turning around, she went back to bed._

_"Layla..."_

_The voice sounded like it was coming from downstairs. Was it a female? "Mom?" she called out, pausing the movie and going outside of her bedroom towards the stairs. _

_She felt an arm around her neck and everything went black. _


	7. The Ones in the Box

Quick shout-out to xheavilybrokenx. Thanks so much for your review.

_**Chapter Seven: The Ones In The Box**_

_When Lita came to, everything was black. As in she was encased in darkness and silence, a mix that both frightened and unnerved her. "Hello?" she called out. The voice was encased within the walls of which she was trapped. _

_It didn't take her long to realize she was trapped in a box. It was concrete. She tried to push on it, but she was unable to break free. "Hello? Somebody help me!" she cried out in a panic. It was no secret that Lita was claustrophobic. Small spaces scared the hell out of her. "Come on! Please! Somebody help me!"_

_She didn't understand what was going on. She was just outside, waiting for Candice, and that was the last thing that she remembered. Now, here she was, trapped in a box. That Alice in Chains song seemed a little too literal for her liking right now. _

_The lid slowly lifted and she was greeted with a blue-gray light in the darkness. Sitting up, she looked to see Candice – with that wand. Only Candice looked different. She was dressed in a long white dress with a red bodice that clung to her tightly. Her hair was piled elegantly atop her head, and she sported white wings. _

_"Candice?"_

_"Please don't be mad."_

_Batista easily slid the concrete lid off of him. After all, he could dead lift seven hundred pounds. This was nothing. He listened as the concrete lid fell off the box with a crash as the concrete shattered against the floor. He sat up and looked around. This was definitely not the locker room at Stamford. The walls were a cold concrete, held up by steel gray pillars. It may not have made any sense, but he was in a tomb. _

_"What the hell is going on here?" he asked, rubbing his aching head. He wasn't sure if he had been attacked; it had all happened so fast. He stood up and got out of the concrete casket. "Where the hell am I?" he demanded, looking around the room. He thought he saw something whiz past him. He wheeled around._

_"Hello?" There was no response and he got annoyed. "Oh, for crying out...who the hell is there? Get out here, or I'll hunt you down myself."_

_Slowly, a blonde woman came out of the darkness. She was dressed in a white halter minidress, white wings spreading out spaciously across her back. She had a wand with her, similar to the one Candice held, only with a blue star on top. "Who are you?" he asked, rubbing his head; this was just too weird._

_"My name's Beth," the young woman replied. "And we need your help, Dave Batista. That's why you're here."_

_"What?"_

_John Cena was absolutely flabbergasted. Whatever the hell was going on was just too weird for him to comprehend at that given second. The last thing he remembered was he was getting into his car to go to Torrie's party. Was this Torrie's party?_

_He looked around. No; it couldn't be. Unless Torrie's house looked like some mausoleum, then there was no possible way. "I'm supposed to be at a Christmas party," John mused, "not some freak Halloween party," he replied. He didn't understand any of this. He looked around, and saw Torrie Wilson in a corner. "Torrie?"_

_"I've been waiting for you to wake up for a while, there, Cena. You had me scared."_

_Torrie looked different, though. She was dressed in a one-piece white vinyl shortsuit, with white wings and a wand with a green star on top. This was too weird. He shook his head, as though he were seeing things, but was greeted with the grim reality that what was happening to him at that given moment was real. "The hell's going on here, Tore?" he asked._

_"I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you."_

_Maria's head was splitting when she came to in what she could only describe as darkness. "Did I die or something?" she wondered out loud. She shuddered; that voice still rang vivid in her ear. It was strange, she could hear the echo of her voice, which told her that she was enclosed in a tight space. She tried to pry on the lid, but nothing was happening. What the hell was going on? "Is anybody here?"_

_The lid slowly lifted and she saw the face of cheerleader Mickie James over her with that wide smile she usually sported plastered to her face. "Like, oh, my God, you're finally awake! I was so worried that the trip had killed you, but Torrie was like, 'No she'll come to when she's ready...'"_

_She looked Mickie over. White tank, white miniskirt, wings...the wings were weird? "Is Torrie's party a costume party? Funny...I don't remember Candice picking me up..."_

_"Sweetie, you're not at the party. You're here!"_

_"Where's here?"_

_Randy Orton's casket was cramped. He knew that the instant he woke up with his knees chafing the concrete. "What the hell?" he murmured into the darkness. He felt groggy, as though he had slept for hours. Somebody had nabbed him in the park; he knew that much, because the last thing he remembered was he was jogging. "What the hell is going on?" he murmured, pushing on the concrete. It was stuck on a snag. "If anyone's out there, a little help would be nice," he called out. He pushed on the casket again, and he heard a woman's grunt. He sat up to be face-to-face with Lilian Garcia, who was dressed in a white two piece outfit, a halter that exposed her midriff and a white skirt that had a jagged, layered bottom with platformed white boots and wings. He stared at her. "I suppose there's a logical explanation for all this?" he asked sarcastically._

_"Might not be logical," she informed him, "but there's definitely an explanation."_

_Layla was already talking to Victoria, who was dressed in a white pantsuit, her usual red streaks in her raven hair replaced with white._

_"Why do you need us?"_

_"Queen Stephanie has been taken," Victoria replied. "She was taken ages ago, but we've been keeping our eye out for people that we know could come out and get her."_

_"You mean to tell me that there's more of us here?"_

_"Yeah. Candice picked Lita, Beth picked Batista, Lilian picked Randy, Mickie picked Maria and Torrie picked Cena."_

_"Wait – what about Torrie's party?"_

_"We all concocted it to cover up for your absences."_

_"So, what happens now?" _

_"We try and get you guys gathered together without Vince the Evil Sorcerer knowing," Victoria informed her. "If he finds out, life as you guys know it will be over. I can't help you along much, as we are all under the watchful eye of Vince. You must gather up with the other five and get to the graveyard. From there, one of us will be there to give you the next steps in your journey."_

_"What happens if Vince catches us?" Layla asked. _

_"It should be safe for now. He doesn't know you're here yet. But the walls have ears, and he has another branch of vindictive devils to get you. But we will explain more of that when you all gather up. Go now."_

_The six of them stood in their respective doorways, staring out into the darkened abyss. It was their grim realization when they were told to go to the graveyard that these were the houses in this weird, mythic world. _

_With a deep breath and a turn to see none of their classmates behind them, they started out into the night. _


	8. United

_**Chapter Eight: United**_

_Lita was lost; she admitted it. As she stood alone in the middle of the road, dressed in her black buckle pants and army green tank top, all she could think about was how lost she was._

_Candice had told her what was happening. It seemed to far out to be true. At least, in her logical mind that was. Lita admitted it; she was the type that over analyzed things. But Candice had demonstrated her magical prowess to her, and Lita was inclined to believe it. _

_She had told her about a beautiful queen named Stephanie, whose king was waiting for her in the Land of Paradise. Until she is reunited with the king, it seemed as though beauty and this world would be lost. Especially if Vince made it there first with Queen Stephanie._

_But the problem was that nobody knew where she was. Vince had ordered her abduction by his henchmen, Steve and Rocky, but both had since perished into the windows of time, and nobody had seen hide nor hair of them since the abduction. _

_Lita was warned of the wicked angels. Each of the girls' angel have an alter ego devil, so to speak, one that would bring them death, misfortune and destruction. With a nod, Lita understood. It was the only thing she understood in this messed up situation. _

_She looked around her. The sky was a pitch black without the presence of a single cloud, but with the presence of white dots that she easily identified as stars. _

_Slowly, unsure of the direction, she moved down the left leg of the road, where the cryptic arrow pointed downward._

_Batista was aggravated. This entire thing seemed like a load of crock. But as he stood, dressed in his black pants and white muscle shirt, he realized just how cold it was outside. He had to guess the time at about two in the morning, and he wondered what his parents thought. He hadn't even gone home yet. For all they knew, he was probably still at school. _

_"Yeah, at school at two in the morning," he murmured. But with the way that his parents were – his mother worked nightshift at a grocery store, and his father was wherever, whenever, there was the good possibility that his absence wasn't even noticed. _

_Looking around, he was reminded of what Beth had told him. Cena, Randy, the new girl, and the cheerleader were out there somewhere._

_And Lita._

_He hoped she wasn't afraid of what was happening. This was happening so fast that it was making his head feel light, as though it were spinning on an axis. _

_He was tired. But they had the mission to work on. His friends were...fairies? What on earth were they? They were using angels, but angels don't stay in a place like this, do they? And then there were evil ones out there, but they had to be all together for the warnings. It was going to be a long night, he realized with a sigh. _

_He had to find the graveyard. He was pretty sure that the green sign that pointed down the hill would lead him there. So, he followed the gray stone road. _

_Maria couldn't believe this. She was standing alone in the middle of the road, arms crossed over her chest. She had to be taken in this top, she lamented, but quickly snapped back into focus as she heard somebody say, "Hey – you're the new girl, ain't you?"_

_She turned around. It was him! John Cena with those beautiful blue eyes and killer physique. She offered a weak smile._

_"That'd be me."_

_"Been meaning to talk to you. What's your name?"_

_"Maria."_

_"Maria. John Cena. But you probably know that one already," he smirked._

_"Yeah. You're probably the most talked about man at Stamford High," she confessed. "Do you have any idea what the hell is happening?"_

_"Your guess is as good as mine. I come to and there's Torrie with wings!" He laughed. "Like she's an angel." They laughed. "We gotta find the graveyard. You lost?"_

_"Yeah. Totally lost."_

_"Good. We'll be lost together," he replied and they laughed. They were looking around. "What if we went right?" she asked. _

_"Could be a spacious graveyard. And if all else fails, then we'll just go back," he replied. "Come on. Let's go." Together, the two of them walked down the road. _

_Randy Orton was jogging along the roads. He wasn't a fitness freak – he just wanted to get this over with. The faster that he got to the graveyard, the faster he could get the instructions, and the faster he could get the hell out of there and go home. He didn't want to be here anymore than the other five. _

_He had learned that Cena and Batista were there, too, and he was thankful for that. Coming to with Lilian, he figured he was going to be surrounded by women. But this wasn't the case as three of the angels had picked them out. Stopping at the fork in the road, he pondered which direction he should go. He hoped all of them led to the graveyard; after all, he didn't want to run back to try all the directions. This was going to be irritating. With a deep breath, he just kept going straight._

_Layla was the first one to find the graveyard. She walked past the front gates, and pried open the black iron bars that led her to the eerie burial site. Grey-white fog danced around the tombstones and her knees like dancers as she shivered, moving slowly through the graveyard. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she was shivering. She wished she had a sweater. Of course, had she known she would be on this stupid...journey or mission or whatever, then she would have dressed accordingly. That was if she had to. The last place she wanted to be was here._

_She sat down on a tombstone that read "Foley", a regarded name of the past in this place, and waited. Hopefully, they would all show up soon._

_She spotted John Cena and Maria walk through several minutes later. "Guys!" she called out. Victoria had already informed her that they were amongst the other five. Cena and Maria saw her._

_"Hey!" Cena called back and Maria waved as they rushed over to her, Maria's boots sinking in the moist, damp grass. _

_"Good, we made it," Maria said with a sigh of relief. _

_"I'm glad. I feel like I've been waiting here forever," Layla replied. "Two minutes in this place is too long." They nodded in agreement._

_"This is pretty fucked up, isn't it?" Cena asked. The girls nodded._

_"With a capital F," Layla replied. She saw over Cena's shoulder as Randy Orton walked through. "Orton! Over here!"_

_They all turned as Randy jogged over to them. "Good, I went the right way."_

_"I have the strangest feeling that whatever way we took would lead us here," Maria told them. "We were supposed to meet here..."_

_"And we have no idea where we're going..."_

_"So they set this up," Randy panted. "This is so weak."_

_"I gotta agree," Layla replied. Randy gave her a smirk. As a football player, he was very familiar with the school's head cheerleader. _

_"Who else are we missing?" Cena asked._

_"Lita and Batista," Randy replied, quickly looking them all over. "Lilian said she was here."_

_"Lilian? As in Garcia?" Maria asked. Randy nodded._

_"Well, that's great," Layla replied. "Victoria told me you guys were here."_

_"I got Torrie."_

_"I got Mickie."_

_"I got Beth."_

_They turned to see Batista, staring around at the graveyard. He turned to the others. "Anybody agree with me when I say that this is messed up beyond anything I could have ever imagined?"_

_"Yeah," they all agreed. _

_"So it's just Lita now," Maria said._

_"You mean, she hasn't made it here yet?" Batista asked, worried. "Think one of us should go out there and find her?"_

_"No. We've come to the conclusion that all the roads will lead here. She'll be here pretty soon. She shouldn't be too much longer now." As Randy said that, Lita walked through the main gates._

_"Speaking of which, there she is now."_

_Batista wheeled around as she walked slowly through the maze of tombstones, arms crossed over her chest, staring around in fascination and fear as she approached them._

_"I guess I can say that it's a good thing it's all people we know," Lita mused as she approached them. "Forgive me, but this whole thing is giving me the creeps."_

_"I have to agree with you," Batista replied. _

_"I think we all agree with you, Lita," Maria replied. "Do you have any idea what's happening?"_

_"Nothing more than what Candice told me, which I'm sure is what she told you."_

_"Candice?" Batista replied. "I didn't get Candice."_

_"We all have different people that brought us here. Candice didn't mention that."_

_"No, she spent most of the time pleading with me not to be mad. Forgive me, but how happy can you be when you wake up in a casket made of concrete?"_

_"Don't complain," Randy replied, pulling up his trackpants to the knee. It was chafed from the casket. "At least yours wasn't too small."_

_"You made it."_

_They all turned to see the six angels. _

_"What the hell are we doing here?" Cena demanded. The angels all looked at each other, as though to decide which one would tell._

_"Have a seat," Candice replied. "This may take awhile."_


	9. An Explanation

Xheavilybrokenx, thanks for the reviews. You rock!

_**Chapter Nine: An Explanation**_

_"Queen Stephanie is the last of her kind. She is not just a mere queen, but a goddess. This isn't bias, this isn't opinion. This is fact. Born of incredible beauty and power, it only seemed predestined that Stephanie marry King Hunter. Both took their place at the throne of this kingdom and ruled all with great popularity for years._

_"Deciding that the seasons were not helping the crops to its fullest potential, Stephanie and Hunter agreed that the best thing that they could do was hire a sorcerer. Through King Todd and Queen Joy, they were given the name of Vince, a successful sorcerer who had served many a royal couple in their day._

_"After meeting him, they decided to hire him as a way to improve the stature of this beautiful land. And for a while, it seemed as though everything was going perfectly fine. _

_"Until one day, it seemed as though Vince had lost it. With crops not improving, Queen Stephanie was horrified that Vince was using his powers and regal stature with her and the king to play horrid pranks on the townspeople, turning their crops to ashes and such._

_"Stephanie told King Hunter and Vince was promptly dismissed. But they had created a monster, and Vince showed no intents of stopping. So they went to the lengths of hiring the great sorcerer known as the Undertaker. He tried to overpower Vince, but if you'll look four tombstones behind you..."_

_They turned and saw the six foot ten regal stature of a man in a wide-brimmed hat and cloak that fell to his ankles. The idea of themselves being stuck in a state like that made them all shudder._

_"Terrified, Queen Stephanie enlisted us, her royal knights to protect her. But when Vince learned of this, he counter-hired six deviants to take us on. While we were fighting our battles with him, Vince had Rocky and Steve steal into the night, and take Queen Stephanie while Vince turned King Hunter to stone._

_"Promptly after, though, Steve and Rocky never met up with Vince, and Vince was unable to get his hands on the queen."_

_"This place was once beautiful," Lilian replied. "This place was one considered the most beautiful palace in the galaxy. But now look at it. The houses look like tombs, the roads are chipped and cracking."_

_"We need you to totally find her," Mickie replied. "We need the six of you to go through this town, through this world, to find her, and take her back to the promised land."_

_"When Vince learns of what we've done, we'll be locked up for sure," Torrie told them, her voice pleading. "So be careful out there. We'll try to guide you along as best as we can, but there is only so much we can do."_

_"Batista and Lita, you two go together," Candice replied, shooting a sly glance at Lita. Lita couldn't help but chuckle slightly. _

_"Cena, Maria, since you two already know each other, you guys team up," Torrie told them. They nodded and got to their feet with Lita and Batista._

_"I guess that leaves you and me, babe," Randy replied, helping Layla to her feet. She nodded. "Let's find this girl and get the hell out of here." They all nodded._

_"Be careful you guys. We will be watching over you," Beth assured them. With that they were gone. _

_"I guess we should get started," Batista replied. He and Lita began to make their way towards the back exit. _

_"See you guys," Randy murmured, going out of the side exits. That only left Cena and Maria to go out the front exit, all six of them fearing death and the deviants. _


	10. No Idea

_**Chapter Ten – No Idea**_

_"Wow. This sucks."_

_"Tell me about it," Batista agreed, chuckling at Lita's attitude towards the whole thing. The graveyard just seemed to go on forever, but the back gates were in sight._

_"Did you know this about Candice?"_

_"No idea," she replied._

_"Know where we're going?"_

_"No idea. You?"_

_"Same here." They walked out of the back gates. They walked down the road together, both of them cold in the night._

_"So what happened? Why are you here?"_

_"I don't know," Lita admitted. "I was waiting for Candice, but I guess Candice had other plans. What about you?"_

_"I got jumped." She laughed. "Seriously. I got jumped after a workout." _

_"At least that little snooze we wound up made things a little better," Lita admitted. "I don't feel as tired."_

_"So, your take on this whole Queen Stephanie thing?"_

_"Well, we're here," she replied, her tone nonchalant. They stopped at another intersection. "Which direction do you think we should go. Towards the wooded area, or towards the normal roads?"_

_"I doubt she's hidden out in the open," Batista replied._

_"That's sometimes the best hiding spot," she informed him. _

_"Yeah, but where in the open on a road full of nothing?" Batista asked her._

_"True enough, but those caskets."_

_"Those girls would have found her by now then," Batista told her. _

_"True. Let's go into the woods." She stared at him, a cocky grin tugging at her lips. "You first."_

_"Scared?"_

_"Always."_

_Randy and Layla were making their way down along the concrete roads when the rain started. "Well, isn't this just great!" Layla whined as the torrents just poured down on them. It didn't help she was wearing a white tank top. Randy smirked._

_"I'm not complaining."_

_"I ought to kick your ass," she snapped. They made the turn past the line of concrete homes. "God, it looks like the Flintstones threw up in this place," she said. He laughed. _

_"How'd you get here?"_

_"I got kidnapped, that's how!" she snapped. "What about you?"_

_"Same. They snagged me on a jog."_

_"Well, it's good to know that we're here for some divine purpose," she replied sarcastically. "Who knew this sort of thing existed amongst our classmates?"_

_He laughed. "No kidding."_

_"So, did you see the way Batista was looking at Lita?" Layla replied._

_"Do we really have to go into gossip?"_

_"Well, we have a long trek ahead of us," she replied. He sighed; she was right. And he was stuck with her out of everybody. Lita was quiet, and smart, and Maria was...well, just quiet. But no, he got Layla the head cheerleader. He groaned. This was going to be a long journey._

_Cena and Maria were walking down the roads in the rain. "I wonder what everybody else is doing," Maria replied._

_"Probably the same thing we're doing," he replied. She smiled._

_"Right."_

_"You haven't been here long have you?" he asked. She shook her head. "I've seen you in the halls a few times. You enjoy Stamford?"_

_"It's nice, but I miss my home," she admitted._

_"Where you from?" he inquired. _

_"Ottawa, Illinois," she replied. _

_"I'm from Boston," he replied. _

_"Is it nice over there?" she asked._

_"I have a tough time remembering it. I moved here when I was young," he told her. She nodded. "So, your take on this Queen and King stuff?"_

_"Too weird for me to comprehend right now," she admitted. He nodded._

_"Amen to that. I just wanted to party. Stupid Torrie." They nodded in agreement. _

_"Think we'll find her?" she asked. Cena shrugged. _

_"If they couldn't find her, I don't understand how we could be any better," he answered. She nodded in agreement. They continued walking, wondering how on earth they were going to pull this off. _


	11. Discovered

_**Chapter Eleven: Discovered**_

_He saw the redhead walking with the musclehead down the road towards the woods. They were distorted through the crystal ball, but he could tell that they meant trouble._

_Vince pulled back and looked at the six deviants that were seated along the chaise. The first deviant was Sharmell, a princess fallen from grace in King Todd's kingdom. Her form of attire was a black halter dress with red sparkles and a high slit up the front, and she still wore a tiara to connect herself with her old days of royalty._

_The next deviant, seated below her on the chaise itself, was Michelle McCool. Blonde, small, beautiful, she was dressed in a black blouse tied under her small bosom and a black miniskirt, her glasses slid down to the bridge of her nose._

_The next deviant on the docket was Kristal Marshall, daughter of a local merchant. She was dressed in a black tube top and pants, her hair feathered back, her evil eyes twinkling with sadistic delight as she picked on Stacy Keibler, the youngest deviant of the crew. She had chosen a black skirt and black shirt, and she was getting ready to zap Kristal out of the window. _

_The last two deviants were Chyna and Dawn Marie. Out of all the deviants, Chyna was the most intimidating, being five-foot ten and being made of solid muscle. _

_"Ladies," Vince replied. He had a soft spot for these girls and they knew it. "What we are going to do is we are going to do whatever we can to aid these six in their journey to find Queen Stephanie. Cause let's be serious, that's why they are here," he replied. The girls nodded. Stephanie's royal knights without a shadow of a doubt brought them here, and they knew it. "Once they find Queen Stephanie, then you can dispose of them. Otherwise, don't touch." The girls nodded._

_"Go now and do what you have to."_

_The rain was finally dwindling as Batista and Lita made their way towards the other side of the woods. He had to admit, seeing her there, arms crossed over her chest, hair plastered against her face, makeup smudged, he had to admit, she looked beautiful._

_"Dave?"_

_He snapped out of his reverie. "Yeah, Lita?"_

_"I was thinking, if Vince has a brand of six deviants with him...they never told us who the girls were."_

_"What are you getting at?" he asked._

_"What I'm getting at is outside of you, me, the other four and the six that brought us, we have to trust nobody."_

_"You really feel that way?"_

_"Wanna bet your life on it?"_

_He shook his head. "No, I can honestly say I don't."_

_"Then we might as well just trust those we know." He nodded and they continued walking through the woods._

_"Damn."_

_To say Chyna was dismayed was an understatement to say the least. It looked like Lita was going to be smart, and if she was going to be smart, then it meant that the big musclehead that she was with was going to follow along. Anyway, look at him! He is so in love with her. Chyna scoffed. Love. What a stupid word, what a ridiculous concept. If she had her way, she would kill Queen Stephanie upon discovery, but Vince would kill her in return. She had been scorned by King Hunter when she was younger, more beautiful, and because of that, she was going to see to it that Lita and Batista never got to see the light of a day together as boyfriend and girlfriend._

_Meanwhile, Michelle was behind a tree, keeping her watchful eye on them as they made their way towards the exit. This might prove tough. She and Chyna shot a look at each other that gave each other the idea without a word even being spoken. Love-scorned Chyna was already plotting their demise, but Michelle had other ideas for Batista. Other ideas that she liked very, very much..._

_Randy Orton and Layla stopped in at a house. It seemed as though all the houses there were deserted or abandoned, so he was hoping he could find a sweater for Layla to shut her up. For the last two and a half hours she had done nothing but whine about how cold it was. It was going to drive him crazy. He was already thinking of killing her. After all, they were in another world, how would anybody outside of that know? They wouldn't, he reasoned. _

_"Looking for something?"_

_Layla and Randy jumped, spooked, and turned around to see Kristal leaned against the doorframe. On the other side of the doorframe was Stacy Keibler. "Oh!" Layla replied. "Sorry. We didn't know anybody lived here."_

_"Don't worry about it," Kristal replied, shooting a conspiratorial glance at Stacy. They were going to play along. "What can we do for you?"_

_"We're looking for a sweater or something," Randy explained. "It's been raining and Layla here is frozen."_

_"Oh. Stace, why don't you run upstairs and see if you can find anything for her," Kristal said. Stacy nodded and disappeared up the steps. "I'm Kristal. You are?"_

_"Randy Orton," he replied, shooting his trademark flirtatious glance at her. They stared at each other, trying to one-up each other on the flirtatious front. The moment was cut short when Stacy appeared seconds later with a pink sweater. _

_"Here you go..."_

_"Layla."_

_"Layla." The two deviants stood together. "We haven't seen you around here before?"_

_"We're visiting," Randy replied as an attempt to cover it up. "Just passing through with my wife." Layla stared at him wide-eyed, and Stacy and Kristal exchanged knowing glances. _

_"Oh, okay. Well, enjoy your time, and hopefully you find your way back to the hotel okay," Stacy said, keeping the lie alive._

_"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I remember which direction we came from. Come on, babe," he replied and led Layla out. The two deviants started laughing when they were out of earshot._

_"If they're really married, then he is a total sleazebag," Kristal laughed. _

_"They're not. Look how young they look. It's not possible," Stacy laughed. "I'll bet you they're high school students." They laughed. _

_"Think we can get them to hook us up?" Kristal asked. _

_"Probably a lot easier than Chyna and Michelle. They're upstairs fuming right now. Apparently the redhead has some brains." Kristal shrugged and they went up the stairs to join the other deviants._

_"You going to be okay?"_

_Maria was seated on a rock. Her heel had snapped and she had twisted her ankle on the impact. "I'll be okay," Maria replied tearfully. It hurt. She felt so stupid for getting hurt in front of Cena, but he didn't seem to pay any notice or mind to her anger and embarrassment. _

_"You wanna keep going, or stop for the night?" he asked. _

_"We can keep going," Maria replied. "I'll be okay."_

_"You sure?" _

_They turned to see Dawn Marie and Sharmell standing behind them. "We could always take you to a doctor. Make sure you didn't sprain anything."_

_Cena was suspicious of the girls. Where the hell did they come from. "Nah, Maria here's a fighter," he replied, keeping his eye on Dawn Marie, who was staring at him with a wild flirtation in her eyes. "So, if you ladies don't mind..." He helped Maria to her feet and they began to walk away._

_"What was that about?" Maria asked when they were out of the earshot._

_"You can quote me on it, but I got a bad feeling about those women," he replied. "Kinda funny how they just show up all of a sudden, huh?"_

_Maria thought about it. "Yeah. Where the hell did they come from?"_

_"I'll bet you they work for Vince," Cena replied. "From hereon in, we trust the angels and the people here with us, okay?" Maria nodded, her eyes huge. "Okay. Come on, let's keep it rollin'." They turned into the wooded area, leaving Sharmell and Dawn Marie to go back to the drawing board. _


	12. Angelic Meeting

_**Chapter Twelve: Angelic Meeting**_

_"You have to be kidding me? They know that quickly?"_

_Candice nodded. They were all in their headquarters, cups of tea in front of them. Candice took her seat between Torrie and Mickie. "I know Lita and Dave are being followed," Candice informed them. "I know Lita; she's a smart girl. She knows who she can trust. And Batista will follow her with everything that he has. The problem is we might have a problem with the other four. Maria is desperate for anyone to be her friend, and quite frankly, if it's in a skirt, then Randy Orton will chase it. It's Randy and Layla we're going to need to worry about."_

_"Shit. How the hell does Vince know already?" Lilian snapped. "We were so careful!"_

_"Were we?" Victoria asked, sipping her chamomile tea. "Let's be honest, those women followed us to their world. They knew exactly who we were keeping an eye on."_

_"But they do look different here than they did in the other world. Over there they looked like teenagers. Here, they look their age."_

_"Not to mention Chyna, Dawn and Stacy are here. They never followed through," Candice replied. "I hope Lita's careful. Chyna is just bitter, and if she gets her hands on them..."_

_Batista and Lita were walking down the road. There was a huge castle up ahead. "Think that's King Hunter's castle?" Lita asked. _

_"I'm not sure," he replied. "We could always go check it out." Lita nodded. "So...this whole thing is kind of weird, huh?"_

_"Yeah. I wonder what that means when we find Queen Stephanie for Candice. Do you think she'll just vanish?"_

_"I don't know. What do you think that would mean for Shelton?"_

_"She'll probably kidnap him and drag him here like they did for us," she mused. Batista laughed._

_"I wouldn't doubt that," he replied. "So, seen any good movies lately?"_

_"You're awfully chattery now. What's up?"_

_"Long journey, second wind." She laughed and they continued to walk._

_"I think the coolest thing I've seen lately has to be Kill Bill volume one," she replied. "The fight scenes were incredible."_

_"I gotta agree with you," he replied. "I love the scene at the end."_

_"Oh, at the club?"_

_"Yeah..."_

_Under the watchful eyes of Chyna and Michelle, the chattering duo made their way towards the castle._

_Randy Orton wished that he could throw Layla off a bridge. In the last two hours she had chattered about everything from the latest fashion, to celebrity eating disorders, to what song she had in her CD player at that given moment. He didn't care!_

_He rubbed his temples. He was hoping one of those evil fairies would just show up and take Layla off his hands. Maybe he could strike a deal with him. This bitch was driving him insane. _

_"And then I was like, 'What is up with that hair?', and everybody just started laughing, and it was incredible and..." He just wanted to knock her out. Nobody would notice. Hell, her parents were probably the only ones that would miss her. He suddenly understood why Ken went with Ashley Massaro – it was because she was annoying!"  
He saw the castle acres and acres and acres away. He wondered if King Hunter was there. With an impish grin, he wondered how long it would take to push Layla out of the top window. He normally wasn't so violent; she was just really irritating him._

_Meanwhile, on the other side of the town, Cena was finding himself becoming increasingly more attracted to the lovely female they called Maria. She was telling him about her childhood in Illinois, where she would spend summers at the beach house her grandparents owned. _

_She had that sweet, girl-next-door kind of quality and he loved it. And she was a good listener. She had already heard about his years in Boston, or more specifically, what he could remember. They were making their way up the road towards the castle. It was still miles away, but they could still see it, and curious about the aspect of King Hunter, they decided that it wouldn't hurt to go and check it out. After all, for the miles that they had to go, he had a beautiful young woman to talk to, she he wasn't going to complain._

_Meanwhile the deviants had all gathered. Now they were going to put plans in motion to try and assist in the location of Queen Stephanie. After that, all bets were off for the six teenagers. _


	13. The Castle

_**Chapter Thirteen: The Castle**_

_The castle loomed over them in all its splendor. Massive, stacked high into the cobalt sky, the castle seemed to be an impenetrable fortress, stripped of any beauty that King Hunter and Queen Stephanie may have put into the house. Lita and Batista realized that this was the place that they would need to bring Stephanie when she was found. _

_Batista pried open the doors that were caked shut with years of mold and moss. They opened with a creak. "After you?" he replied with a smirk._

_"Scared?" she teased, walking past him._

_"Always," he replied, following her in. The castle was pitch black, encased in darkness. _

_"See if we can find anything to start a fire or something," Lita mused, searching around the darkness for any sign of a lighter or a torch. _

_With a spark, a torch was lit. Lita stared at Batista. "Boy scout?" she asked, motioning to the sticks in his hand._

_"Let's not go there," he answered. She laughed and the two of them made their way up the steps towards the main floor of the palace. _

_When they reached the floor that was used as King Hunter and Queen Stephanie's living quarters, they stared at each other before staring down the sleek black hallway. She could see yellow eyes glowing in the darkness. "Dave..." Lita began. She slapped his arm, and motioned her head down the hallway. He stared. He could see the seven foot monster standing out of the darkness. _

_"Who goes there?" the creepy voice called out. Lita clutched onto Batista's arm for protection. This was a monster of a man, dressed in red and black, bald, his face marred with the permanent look of a serial murderer. _

_"Who the hell are you?" Batista called back. He didn't fear this guy; not in the least._

_"My name is Kane. I am brother of Undertaker, guardian of King Hunter's statue."_

_"We're here to find Queen Stephanie," Lita called out, frightened. "Candice and Beth sent us."_

_Kane stopped. "Well, why didn't you say so?" he asked, his tone taking on a somewhat friendlier tone. It still sounded creepy. "Come on down here, you guys. What can I help you with?"_

_"Is King Hunter really in here?" Lita asked._

_"Yeah. You want to see him?" Kane asked. She nodded, her hazel eyes still wide with fear. Kane opened the door and followed the duo into the room._

_It was the bedroom quarters. The room had obviously been left the way it was when Stephanie was taken. It was disheveled and destroyed, with King Hunter's stone body laid out on the bed. He was a large man, the stone carving out the long hair that he had. The nose was monstrous, but Lita didn't say anything to that. She didn't think it would be tactful. _

_"Were you there that night?" Batista inquired. Kane shook his head. _

_"Shortly after I heard the news, I had to see it for myself," he confessed. "Sure enough..."_

_"Your brother was the Undertaker?" Lita asked. Kane nodded. _

_"Is. When Queen Stephanie is found, his life will be restored," Kane told her defiantly. She moved a step behind Dave in fear. _

_"What do you know about the women Vince has behind him?" Batista asked._

_"I know that one of them is the king's ex-girlfriend, and since he scorned her, she's looking to destroy any type of love she can find," he replied. "So you and your girlfriend need to watch..."_

_"What?" they both started to laugh. "No," Lita said, "he's not my..."_

_"Just watch yourself. Is it just the two of you?"_

_"No, there are four others."_

_Randy Orton and Layla were still nowhere near the castle. And things weren't too good for him right now. Aside from a splitting headache, she was still talking and driving him insane. He felt like grabbing her around the neck and just squeezing. _

_"Wow. We meet again." _

_The duo whirled around to see Kristal and Stacy behind them. He had to admit, the blonde one was really cute. He shot a little nod at her and she smiled coyly. She was into him. "What brings you ladies out here?"_

_"Just out wandering," Kristal replied, shooting a smile to Layla, who reciprocated the smile. "You guys heading over to that castle?"_

_"Yeah. Thought it would be a neat tourist attraction."_

_"Be careful," Stacy replied, her voice full of fake worry. Of course, Randy was so oblivious to it, and Layla was just busy thinking about her own thing. "We heard that there's this seven foot monster there. He'll kill you if you don't slay it."_

_"Really?" he inquired. The girls nodded, Kristal widening her eyes in fear for emphasis. "I wouldn't worry. I'm known for kicking ass on the football field and this will be no different," he promised._

_"Wow. You're so strong and brave," Stacy flirted, running her fingers up Randy's arm. He cocked a curious eyebrow at her. Layla only rolled her eyes. "Can we come with you?"_

_"Let me think – hell yeah," he replied. He was just happy that he didn't have to talk to Layla anymore. He had the lovely Stacy._

_Cena and Maria were making their way up the castle steps. "Hello?" Maria called out into the hallway. _

_The bedroom door open and Kane emerged. "You Cena and Maria?" he inquired. They stared at him, mystified._

_"That would be us," Cena nodded. _

_"Come on in. King Hunter's in here," Kane replied. Cena and Maria stared at each other quizzically, but went into the room nonetheless. _

_They walked in to find Lita and Batista sitting on the bed by King Hunter's stone body. "Lita!" Maria exclaimed, rushing to give her friend a hug. _

_"Yo, man, s'up?" Cena inquired, slapping hands with Batista._

_"Not too much. Kane's here getting a hold of our girls."_

_"Think they'll come down."_

_"Yeah. Kane was saying that Torrie was panicked about something on the line."_

_Just then, Candice, Torrie, Beth and Mickie showed up on the balcony. Pulling the glass windows open, they were urgent. "Have a seat, we have some really bad news for you guys." Taking a quick seat, they stopped talking and listened._

_"Vince knows you're here," Candice replied. "He's had his deviants tracking you through the mission."_

_"How could he find out?"_

_"He can find out anything; he's a sorcerer," Mickie informed them. _

_"What's so big with me?" Kane asked._

_"It's Randy and Layla. Randy's under Stacy's spell and they're on their way to kill you and take King Hunter's body."_

_"Come out and play!" _

_They all froze. It was Randy Orton's taunting voice down the hallway, begging Kane to show his face in the hallway._


	14. A New Addition

_**Chapter Fourteen: A New Addition**_

_They all froze in panic when Randy's voice echoed down the hallway, taunting Kane to come out so he could prove his masculine prowess to Stacy and Kristal. Moreso Stacy. _

_The four angels, four teens and Kane all froze. "Stacy's with him. We may have lost him," Candice replied, staring out the door. She softly closed the door and turned to them. "The girls are here for King Hunter's body."_

_"What will they do with it?" Lita asked._

_"King Hunter must be reunited with Queen Stephanie. If they find Queen Stephanie and bring her to Hunter, or if they take King Hunter to Stephanie, then all will be lost." The girls were in a panic. "That's why we put Kane here," Candice continued. "As brother of the Undertaker, we know that he is a force to be reckoned with."_

_"Kristal is with them, too," Torrie said, closing the door again. _

_"Don't look!" Mickie chastised. "You'll give us away." They shut out the lights in the room._

_"We have to take King Hunter with us," replied Mickie. "It's our only chance of keeping him away from them."_

_"But if Vince finds out we have him..." Torrie began._

_"He won't," Mickie promised. "We just disguise him. Hide him where we hid Lita." _

_"That might work," Candice began. There was a banging on the door. _

_"You in there, Kane?" Randy's voice rang out._

_"Go!" Kane urged the fairies. They nodded and with a puff pink smoke, all of them were gone from the room._

_Randy turned to Stacy and Kristal, an arrogant smirk on his face. "See? Kane isn't here. He would have been out here by now." Layla rolled her eyes; for the last two hours it had been about nothing more than impressing Stacy, who obviously wasn't reciprocating the feeling. _

_"Why don't you open the door, Randy?" Layla replied, eyebrow cocked. "I mean, you really think he's just going to come out and let you kick his ass?"_

_Randy shot a murderous glare at Layla. "She has a point, boy," Kristal replied. "I don't think he'd want to tangle with the likes of you." Randy smiled, and Layla rolled her eyes. That's not what she was saying. And she was pretty sure that Kristal and Stacy knew it. _

_They two deviants were looking at each other with a smile of conspiracy as Randy opened the door and stormed into the empty room._

_"That was close," Kane replied. _

_"If those deviants got close to Kane, they'd take him out," Candice explained to Lita. The others had taken King Hunter's body out to the abandoned house where Lita had woken up in. "Their power is more refined, more developed than his."_

_"When did you start practicing magic?" Maria asked._

_"After my brother's entombment," Kane answered. "I vowed to myself that I would dedicate my life to his freedom, no matter what it took." _

_"So that's why you were guarding King Hunter," Cena replied. _

_"He and Queen Stephanie are the keys to my brother's freedom, and if anything happens to them, all is lost."_

_"But where do we find Stephanie?" Batista mused. "I mean, forgive me for saying this, but it feels like we're chasing our tails."_

_"I have to agree with Batista. If you can't give us any clues as to her whereabouts, what makes you think that we'll do any better?" Lita asked. Candice turned to her. _

_"There is one clue," Candice confessed. "We just...we didn't really trust Lilian's choice of Orton, so we opted to keep quiet until we could get you four."_

_"What about Layla?" Cena asked._

_"Total gossip," Lita answered. _

_"Ah."_

_"What's the clue?" Lita asked Candice. _

_"It was something like, 'beyond the weeping willows, past the rugged sea, the queen will be waiting, to restore everything we see.'"_

_"Who the hell told you that?" Cena scoffed._

_"Steve. One of the abductors. Before their disappearance."_

_"Does anybody know where they went?" Maria inquired._

_"I don't know," Candice claimed, "but if I were them, while Vince has all this power here, then I would seriously consider they stay where the are. They're not stupid men. They obviously understood the importance of Queen Stephanie being in the possession of Vince."_

_"What about this Vince guy? Will we know him when we see him?" Maria asked. _

_"You won't see him," Candice replied. "He's such a coward, he wouldn't dare get his hands dirty by taking part in this. For the last five years, he's used his hand-picked guards and deviants to take care of his handiwork. So don't worry about it. You won't see him."_

_Candice turned to them. "Good luck, you guys. After you take Stephanie back to the gathering spot, we will try to see what we can do about Randy and Layla. Layla might be lost, but Orton I'm sure we can save."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"We've been trailing Orton and Layla. She's annoying the hell out of him," Candice answered, which prompted them all to laugh. Then Candice's face turned serious. _

_"I want you four to be careful. Things will get harsh. Beware the guards, beware the deviants. I leave you now with the phrase good luck." With that, Candice was gone._

_The quartet turned to Kane. "Did you, uh, want to come along with us?" Lita asked. "We could really use a magician on board."_

_"I'd be honored to follow you on your journey," Kane replied. The four were ecstatic, and Lita and Batista led the way down the road towards the woods._

_Vince had a tension headache. This wasn't good. When Vince gets a headache, bad things happen..._

_"Boy Wonder!" Vince barked for his right-hand man. The one they called Shane-O-Mac fluttered his feet into the room as though he were either dancing or having a seizure. _

_"Yeah?"_

_"Make sure they find Stephanie. After that, get the deviants together and kill them. But bring me back the redhead. I have special plans for her."_

_The one they call Shane-O-Mac nodded. "Sure thing." With that, he was gone. _


	15. Whispering Willows

_**Chapter Fifteen: Whispering Willows**_

_The five of them continued to walk through the roads. "Think we're lost?" Kane asked._

_"Oh, I know we're lost," Cena admitted as they continued to make their way down the roads towards another wooded area. This wooded area would more than likely take them to that rugged sea that Candice had spoken of. _

_"A jungle of willows," Lita replied, her voice a mere mumble. The riddle Candice had presented to her had her thinking fast, her mind racing. Batista was right there beside her – of course – agreeing with everything that she had to say. She had to admit, it was kind of cute. She saw what Candice was talking about now. _

_"Any thoughts how we're going to get past the sea?" Batista asked. Lita shot him a smile, and he felt his heart melt._

_"One thing at a time, big guy," she replied. He nodded, the smile still plastered to his face. _

_"Right," he replied. Maria and Cena were chuckling behind them. _

_They stood before the opening to the woods. They stood all together, staring into the dark abyss. "Anyone wanna enter first?" Maria chimed in. Lita and Batista exchanged smirks. _

_"Come on, guys, let's go!" Lita called out into the night and side by side with Batista, they walked into the woods._

_Randy Orton was irritated. Lilian hadn't been to see him yet, so how would he know that he was on the right track? His headache wasn't getting any better. Layla seemed to befriend Kristal and now the duo just would not shut up. He was trying to think. He was trying not to snap. He told Stacy he was a nice guy, and he was determined to show that to her. He was getting mad. _

_"So, you really think this Queen Stephanie and King Hunter thing is true?" Stacy inquired, her brown eyes wide. He wished she went to his high school. _

_"Well, there's gotta be a reason we're here," Randy replied. "Because I didn't book a vacation."_

_"Oh," she replied. "Where you from originally?"_

_"Stamford, Connecticut," he answered. _

_"Is it nice there? I've never been." She was flirting, he knew it. He enjoyed it. _

_"It's okay," he replied. He stopped. They were back in the intersection by the graveyard. _

_"What's the matter?"_

_"I think that we just went in a complete circle."_

_"Mickie! That's awful!"_

_"As long as Randy is with Stacy and Kristal, we can't risk him finding Queen Stephanie," Mickie replied in her defense. Lilian was a little insulted._

_"She's right, Lil," replied Beth. "As long as he's with those girls, it only spells out trouble."_

_Lilian sighed. "I thought he was better than this. Who knew he was such a..."_

_"Jock?"_

_"Yeah." The girls laughed. _

_"Candice, I have a feeling about Lita," Torrie replied. "Watch over her." Candice nodded. "But let's keep our concern on Mr. Orton. With those deviants by his side, it's only going to spell catastrophe. Lil, make sure they don't kill them." She nodded. _

_Arm linked with Cena, Maria couldn't help but be frightened by her surroundings. Kane, on the other hand, with his intimidating size and strength, could not be intimidated by anyone or anything. Lita and Batista still continued to walk side by side down the trail. _

_"How are you feeling?" he asked her. She yawned._

_"Starting to get tired," she admitted. "But the sooner we find her, the sooner we can go home."_

_"So, what do you think of Torrie's party?" he asked. She laughed. _

_"Let's not even get started," she replied. "I'm going to kill Candice when we get back to Stamford...at least I understand why she carries that wand around now." They laughed. _

_"Halt."_

_The voice was a low rumble. A willow vine dropped down in front of Lita and Batista and a young man wearing two pounds of body paint and rainbow hair slid down in front of them. "Hey, Kane," the kid replied._

_"Long time, no see, Jeff," Kane replied. _

_"These guys with you?"_

_"Yeah. They're looking for Steph."_

_"Really?" Jeff was impressed; Lita could tell. "Kane tell you guys about me?"_

_"No, I think he forgot," Maria piped up. Jeff smirked. _

_"Leave it to the big guy. Who are you guys?"_

_"I'm Lita," the redhead replied, shaking his hand._

_"Dave Batista," Batista announced, giving Jeff's hand a shake. Jeff acted as though Batista had broken his arm._

_"John Cena," Cena replied, shaking the hand of Jeff. "This is Maria." Jeff gave her a nod. _

_"Jeff Hardy's my name. My brother Matt's around here somewhere. We keep these willows protected from Vince and his deviants."_

_"Just the two of you?"_

_"Don't put it past us," Jeff assured Maria. "There may be more of them, but Vince never comes out himself. And the girls can't navigate these parts like Matt and I. We have done really well protecting these parts for the last several years. Since Bubba and D-Von perished._

_"I am willing to grant you three answers to any nagging questions. So I guess ask away."_

_They all turned to Lita and left Lita to ask the questions. "The night Stephanie was taken from the castle, did Steve and Rocky bring her through here?"_

_"That they did." The chatter behind her started. They were on the right track!_

_"Did you see where they took her?"_

_"No, I didn't. Would make our jobs a lot easier, though, huh?" _

_Lita nodded. "How will we know Vince when we see him?"_

_"He's two thousand years old with a killer physique. Trust me, you'll know." Jeff stepped aside. "I leave you now to go towards the sea, but beware the wretched sea creatures."_

_"Sea creatures?"_

_"Yes. Known as the Spirit Squad. There are five of them. Remember never to look them in the eyes. If that happens, you will become one of them." They all shuddered. They didn't know the horrors of the Spirit Squad, but from the way Jeff spoke of it, it was something that none of them wanted to become. "I bid you good luck. You have a nice addition with Kane. See you at the reunion party."_

_"Yeah. Tell your brother I said what's up," Kane replied._

_"Will do. When Taker gets rejuvenated, then come on out here for a good old fashioned party."_

_"You know it." _

_With that, Jeff was gone, and the five were walking through the trails once again. _

_"What the hell kinda name is Spirit Squad?" Cena demanded. _

_"Not a very good one," Maria interjected. They all laughed._

_"Remember, you don't want to make eye contact," Kane said. "Jeff has never steered me wrong, so you'll be wise to follow his words."_

_"Think we should post camp for now?" Batista asked._

_"Maybe we should keep going. Who knows where these deviants lie," Lita replied. _

_"She has a point," Kane interjected. "Their magic is much more powerful than mine, since they are under the tutelage of Vince."_

_"I'm sure Candice and the girls won't let anything happen to us," Lita assured him. She had faith in Candice. After all, they had been good friends for years. She trusted Candice with her life._

_Chyna and Dawn Marie were lurking at the entrance of the woods. They knew the Hardy Boyz would be protecting these parts. So their strategy was to get rid of the Hardy Boyz and take out the quartet. Vince had told them that there was now five; Kane having joined the group. Chyna was furious; Kane was just another in a long line of her exes. _

_"You ready to go in?" Chyna replied, the vision in black leather, intimidating and vicious. She was fastening her gloves, ready to go and kill whatever she saw._

_"Let's go," Dawn Marie replied, and together, they emerged into the woods. _


	16. Beyond the Rugged Sea

Thank you for the reviews, guys. I hope you enjoy this chapter. For those who don't...oh, well, I'm probably going to go to hell for this story anyway. Lol.

_**Chapter Sixteen: Beyond the Rugged Sea**_

_It seemed like forever, but when the bright sun made an appearance beyond the horizon, the five finally made it out of the willow woods. They could hear the cries of what they assumed was either Jeff or Matt – or both – earlier, but Kane had prodded them to keep going, and they had even veered off the path. The deviants were hot on their trail and they knew it. _

_Batista had to admit; he was floored at the way Lita had accepted the role of the leader. She was strong, sexy...he had to stay focused. Cena and Maria had become cautiously quiet within the last several hours; he could sense the change in John's normally laid-back demeanor. Maria was frightened; he could see it, her eyes wide with every unfamiliar sound around her. _

_But now the five stood on the exit, on the cliff, leading down to the waters. The crystal blue waters. Lita was jumping up and down, trying to wake herself up. _

_"How in the hell are we going to get down there?" Cena demanded. There didn't seem to be a ledge to lead them down._

_"How do you think?" Lita asked._

_"Oh, hell no!" Batista protested; he was slightly scared of heights. _

_They heard the screams again. "You wanna see what's causing that?" Lita asked. They all shook their heads. "Then hold your breaths, take the plunge and remember: no eye contact with the Spirit Squad." With the count of three, Lita did a flying dive into the waters below. Shooting a look of hesitation at the others, Batista followed, the waters making a loud thud as he landed. Kane followed. _

_Maria looked at Cena. "I don't want to do this," she replied, her voice tearful. Cena took her hand._

_"Come on; we'll jump together," he assured her. "I won't let you go. Ready?" Her face still disfigured with fear, she nodded. "One, two, three..."_

_They both jumped together, Maria's screams ringing out through the sky, quickly silenced by the depths of the water. _

_"Who the hell was screaming?" Layla asked. The quartet were walking towards an abandoned funeral home, the home of the stone magician. _

_"Who cares?" Randy murmured, his nerves on the end of his ropes. Even Stacy was starting to wear on him. What he didn't realize was that Stacy and Kristal were getting annoyed as well. Layla talked too much, Orton hit on everything that moved, and they needed to get back and report to Vince that he assigned them to two idiots. They hoped the other girls were on the right track. _

_"We have to go...get a few things. Wait here for us?" Stacy cooed flirtatiously. Randy cocked an eyebrow._

_"You know it, babe," he replied. Stacy smiled; she had him wrapped around her finger. The deviants grinned at each other and they left down the road. _

_"Let's go," Layla replied. _

_"Didn't you..."_

_"Randy, those girls I think know more than they're letting on. And I think the girls up there know that." Layla motioned up to the heavens with her eyes. "And I think that's why we're lost. So let's get a move on." _

_With a sigh, Randy followed Layla. She was probably right. But Stacy..._

_Damn._

_Lita had to admit, the cold water felt good. They were all gathered about in a circle of five in the water. "How's the adrenaline?" she inquired. They all laughed. "You okay there, Maria?" _

_Maria was laughing, so Lita knew that things weren't too bad. But the laughter was cut short as a giant green and white monster with five heads slowly rose out of the waters behind her. Following the advice of Jeff, they stared at the water. Lita's hazel eyes widened._

_"It's behind me?" she inquired. They nodded. _


	17. The Tunnel

_**Chapter Seventeen: The Tunnel**_

_"Keep your eyes down," Lita whispered to them. "Come on. Get closer." They all swam into each other closely, forming a tight circle within the crystal waters. "On the count of three, we go under, and we swim in five separate directions. Screw him up. It'll have to follow one of us, right? We reunite when we're past it and we're safe. Clear?"_

_They nodded. "Good. One, two, three..." They submerged their heads and away they swam. As Lita swam deeper, deeper, further away, she noticed a tunnel at the bottom of the sea, about fifty yards away from her. A thought ran in her head, but it was cut short when she felt a slimy green and white tentacle wrapped around her ankle. She felt herself being pulled in deeper, and she felt her air running out. She couldn't scream; she couldn't yell out for help. She was panicking, struggling with the tentacle as it wrapped around her, keeping her eyes closed as not to make eye contact as Jeff Hardy had warned. _

_Suddenly, the five-headed beast let out a loud cry and it evaporated into a pile of ash. Lita swam up to the surface, gasping violently for air when she broke through the water. She turned to see Kane smiling behind her._

_"Hit a rough snag?" he asked, that sick sadistic smirk crossing his face. She nodded, a smile crossing her face._

_"Wow. Am I happy we have you on the team," she replied, causing Kane to beam with pride as Cena, Maria and Batista swam up to them. "Guys, I found a tunnel forty yards away. What if she's in there?"_

_"You mean Queen Stephanie?" asked Batista._

_"Think about it: Beyond the weeping willows, beyond the rugged sea, the queen ill be waiting to restore everything we see." _

_"Beyond the sea..."_

_"What if Rocky and Steve said that to throw off people like Vince?" she asked. "That tunnel down there would be a perfect hiding spot if nobody thought about looking, am I correct?"_

_"I'd have to agree with Lita," Batista said. "It does seem like it could be logical. And maybe the reason they disappeared was because they faced down the monster."_

_"So what do you say, guys? We go down into the deep?" she asked. They nodded in excitement and submerged under the waters. They swam the forty yards to the tunnel and went lower. There was a rock blocking the tunnel, which only helped Lita's initial belief. Batista, Cena and Kane ushered the two girls aside and pushed it open just enough to slide into. When they all landed on the damp sands of the tunnel, gasping for air, they found themselves encased in darkness. _

_"Anyone got a light?" Maria's voice rang out._

_"I can see fine," Lita replied. "Just stay close everybody. God only knows what the hell is going to be here this time."_

_"I wouldn't be surprised if that Spirit Squad thing out there was the guard," Cena replied._

_"If that's the case, Vince could have perished it easily," Lita replied. _

_"If he knew that Stephanie was down here," Batista chimed in. "Not everyone is smart like you, Lita." Lita shot another glance at him, befuddled by his attitude. She really saw what Candice was talking about. _

_They continued their way down the tunnel until she saw an opening lit by candles. "I'll bet you she's in there," Lita replied. With a lighthearted rejuvenation washed over her, she jogged through the opening. _

_"Shit!"_


	18. All Seems Lost

A quick thank you to xheavilybrokenx and coldh0pe. Thank you so much for your reviews.

_**Chapter Eighteen: All Seems Lost**_

_The six deviants stood before them, Vince in the center. Lita knew him when she saw him. But call her crazy, something seemed familiar about the man. The five of them stood in a line, facing off each of them, but they were outnumbered by a muscular deviant and an old sorcerer. "Wow. Must be quite an occasion," Kane retorted hotly. "The man himself graces us with his presence."_

_"How's your brother?" Vince retorted. Lita's eyes widened and she turned to Kane, who tried to charge at Vince._

_"You son of a..."_

_"Kane. Stop." Lita held her arms to his broad chest and ushered him back beside Batista. She shot a look at Batista telling him to keep Kane in check. Batista nodded; no words needed to be exchanged between the two of them. _

_"Princess Lita."_

_She wheeled around. "What the hell did you just call me?" she demanded hotly. Things were seemingly getting weirder by the minute._

_"We've been looking for you for years," Vince replied as the deviants started to make their way closer to Lita. _

_"Step off," she snarled, balling her fists. She was ready to swing at the first tramp who accosted her. The other girls backed away, not wanting any part of Lita. But Chyna kept stepping forward._

_"Didn't you hear the lady?" Batista snapped, stepping in between Chyna and Lita. "She said back up!" Chyna took a swing and he ducked back, leveling her with a shot to the jaw._

_That's when all hell broke loose. _

_Lita, meanwhile, was flabbergasted. Princess Lita? Was she missing something here? Looking for her for years? _

_She suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck and everything went black._

_"Lita!"_

_Batista tried to push his way past Chyna, but with a flick of her wrist, Chyna sent him flying back into the rocky wall. His head smashed against the rock and he sank to the sand, unconscious. Chyna stared at his crumpled body with a sick, satisfied smirk and began to make her way out._

_"Dave!" Cena cried out, rushing over to his fallen friend. Meanwhile, the one called Shane-O-Mac was dragging an unconscious Lita out of the cave, while Vince and the deviants gathered Queen Stephanie's statue. With a puff of smoke and a loud screech, they were gone, Lita included. _

_"God damn it!" Cena snapped, rushing over to Batista. "Dave, man, come on. Wake up!" _

_Maria and Kane stood side by side, staring at the scene before them. "Is he dead?" Maria asked, her voice barely a whimper._

_"No!" Cena snarled. "He's not dead. Come on, Dave, wake up!" He started shaking Batista, slapping his face. He turned his aggressive demeanor towards Kane. "Where the hell are the girls?" he snapped. "They should have been here!"_

_"We have a problem," Torrie replied, entering the room. Beth, Candice and Mickie stared up at her. "They have Queen Stephanie."_

_"Jesus," was all Beth could say._

_"We still have King Hunter," Mickie replied. "Can't do anything there."_

_"They have Lita, too. They know about her."_

_"Where are they?" Candice demanded. _

_"The Extreme Sea," Torrie replied. "From the looks of it, Batista's life may be hanging in the balance as well."_

_"How the hell did they know they were there?" Beth demanded._

_"I don't know," Torrie replied. "But I think we have a viper in our midst."_

_"God damn it, I gotta get over there," Candice murmured, grabbing her wand. The girls followed._

_Cena and Maria didn't look all that happy to see Candice, Mickie, Torrie and Beth. "We were set up!" Cena roared._

_"One thing at a time, Cena, please," Candice replied. Her head was spinning; they had her best friend. Not only that, they knew about her. They knew the one thing about Lita that she didn't even know. _

_Beth kneeled down in front of Batista and placed both her hands on his broad chest. "Wake up. It's time for the final part of your mission."_

_Batista's head rolled lightly from side to side. Beth could see the blood slowly oozing out of a wound in the back of his head. She put her hand to the back of his head and watched the wound as it closed. _

_He jolted up. "Lita!"_

_"They have her, man," Cena replied._

_"Great. What the hell are we going to do now?" Batista replied._

_"They won't kill her," Mickie James told Batista._

_"How the hell am I supposed to buy that?"_

_"Because they need her!" Candice informed them. They stared at her oddly. "She is the daughter of Queen Stephanie."_


	19. A Rescue Fit For Royalty

Thanks for the review DarkenMystery.

_**Chapter Nineteen: A Rescue Fit For Royalty**_

_"Get out of here," Batista scoffed. His head was throbbing. _

_"It's true," Candice replied. "That's why I was sent to be her best friend. We grew up together. I helped her get out there."_

_"If that's the case," Cena snapped. "Why doesn't she remember?"_

_"The same reasons that only the six of us and the deviants remember," Mickie replied. "We totally put spells on everyone."_

_"So it's not just King Hunter they need," Batista murmured, looking up at Candice. "They need Lita too!" _

_"So Lita wasn't a random pick," Maria clued in. "You needed her."_

_Candice nodded. "She escaped that night in the castle. She heard the screams and I helped hide her. It would have been what Queen Stephanie wanted."_

_"So what the hell do we do now?" snapped Cena. _

_"We find her."_

_Dressed in a white satin spaghetti strapped gown, Lita sat tied to a chair as Chyna worked her over. She wanted to know where the hell King Hunter was, and now. Of course, Lita knew, but she hoped that the girls had switched hiding spots in case anything had happened. _

_"Where is he?" she snarled._

_"Get out of my face," Lita snapped back. Chyna hauled off and backhanded her, causing her to land on the ground, tied to the chair. She had been working the wristbands forever, but they were too knotted to come out. _

_She wished Batista was there. She wished he was there to knock the teeth out of that bitch's mouth. She wished he was there to take Vince on. Most of all, she was frightened, as much as she hated to admit it, she wanted him there to comfort her. _

_"I'm going to give you one more chance," Chyna snarled. "Where is he?"_

_"What are you going to do?" Lita asked. "Kill me? You can't do that. Vince would kill you." Chyna's eyes widened; this girl had some serious spunk. And Chyna and Lita both knew it was true. Lita was needed, whether Chyna liked it or not and it was going to equal to Chyna's demise if she did anything out of character. _

_Ranting, Chyna left Lita lying sideways on the floor, tied to the chair. She was uncomfortable. _

_It had all happened so fast. Lilian had betrayed them! Lilian had betrayed Candice, Mickie, Victoria, Beth and Torrie. They had gone for King Hunter's body at the place where Lita was, but the girls had grown wise to Lilian and had hidden the statue somewhere else, somewhere Lita did not know. Lita had yet to know that the body had been moved. _

_She looked ahead at the bed, where Queen Stephanie's body lay. She was a beauty in concrete, Lita could only imagine what she was when she was living and breathing. She was having a hard time with this new revelation – that's my mom? Was the only thing that would run through her head as she stared at the queen. _

_The one called Shane-O-Mac had been the nicest to her. She was surprised; but Shane-O-Mac seemed to have something of a conscience. He walked into the room and saw her laid out on the floor. He helped her upright. "Chyna?"_

_She nodded. _

_"Yeah, sorry. She's a little rough around the edges on her people skills," Shane-O-Mac told her. "She shouldn't be roughing you up like that. Vince is going to evaporate her."_

_"Why is she such a bitch?" Lita asked. Shane-O-Mac even had to smirk at that._

_"She dated your father, and he dumped her for Queen Stephanie. She hates your family."_

_"Makes me feel better," she replied. He got up to leave her. "Shane?"_

_He turned around. "Is Batista...is he...?"_

_"I don't know. I'd assume so. Chyna hit him with some violent power." With that, he was gone, leaving Lita to sit alone with her stone mother, the tears falling down her face, her cries coming in soft heaves._

_"I want that bitch!" Batista roared. They were planning their attack on Vince's headquarters. "I am going to kill her!" Of course, he was talking about Chyna._

_Randy Orton and Layla were sent back to their realm. With Lilian's treachery and their stupidity during this entire search, the other girls felt that Orton and Layla could jeopardize what had now become a rescue mission. Batista, on the other hand, was starting to become a concern. He was acting like a loose cannon, Chyna's shot diminishing any sort of logic he had in him. _

_They were all at the graveyard. Kane, Maria, Cena, Candice, Mickie, Batista, Torrie, Victoria, and Beth Phoenix. They were all getting psyched up to go into Vince's headquarters and to get the last of the royal family back together. _

_"I want you all to be careful," Candice warned. "Vince's powers are incredible."_

_"I want him." They all stared at Kane. "I'll make him pay for what he did to my brother." They nodded; it was better to let the two sorcerers duke it out. Of course, Lita had powers, too, being the daughter of Queen Stephanie, but she had yet to realize that she had a store of powers all her own. _

_"Are you ready?" Candice asked. They went up in cheers. "I said, 'Are you ready?'" They yelled out battle cries into the night. "Then let's get a move on."_

_Peering from the crystal ball, Vince smiled. They were coming, just like he thought they would. And when they arrived, he'd be ready for them. _


	20. The Rescue

_**Chapter Twenty: The Rescue**_

_"We need to be careful," Candice informed them as they made their way up the trail that led to the headquarters. "We can't risk a life. We're probably short-staffed as it is."_

_"We get Lita back if it kills us," Batista rumbled, snapping the doors open. Stacy and Kristal were waiting for them. _

_"Going somewhere?" Kristal asked. With a flick of the wand, Candice had them both up against the walls. _

_"Upstairs," Candice commanded to Kane and the others. "Mickie and I got these bitches!" The other two deviants were screaming from the searing pain that the wands were presenting their body with. _

_Upstairs, on the second floor, was Dawn Marie, Michelle McCool and Sharmell. Maria, Beth, Torrie and Victoria decided to take care of them. The guys decided to make their ascension to the top of the building, where Vince, Chyna and Lilian were all seated with Lita._

_"You're a horrible person," Lita spat at Lilian, who seemed unfazed by Lita's assumption._

_"You try working under Candice," Lilian replied. "And the others. Where they're the bosses, and no matter what you do, your judgment is always in question!"_

_"Your judgment wouldn't be in question if you weren't a backstabber!" Lita cried out. Lilian charged at her, but with a pointed finger, Lilian was forced back into her seat by Vince._

_"None of that." He turned to Lita. "Now, Princess, one would only have to assume that you would know where your father is."_

_"Well, I don't," she snapped back. "And you're not going to find out either way."_

_"Oh, you want it to be like that?" Vince challenged._

_"Yeah, I want it to be like that." He could sense her fear, yet he absolutely loved her spunk despite it all. He grabbed her hair, prompting her to scream out._

_"Hands off her, you son of a bitch!" _

_Vince wheeled around, jerking her with him. Batista stood front and center, with Kane to the left and Cena to the right. Lita's eyes widened in joy and surprise. "Dave!"_

_"I'm here," he assured her. _

_"Chyna, get her out of here," Vince replied hotly. Chyna grabbed Lita. _

_"No!" Batista tried to move forward, but Kane and Cena held him back. Lita was struggling, crying out._

_"Dave - !" Her voice was cut off by the ominous sound of the door slamming behind her. Batista turned to Kane and Cena._

_"You guys take care of Vince and Lilian. I want Chyna." They nodded and Batista made his way around the room and towards the door as Kane and Vince began their standoff. _

_With a violent backhand, Chyna sent Lita sprawling to the ground. Holding her face, Lita looked up at Chyna, her eyes full of hatred. "What are you going to do about it, Princess?" Chyna asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. _

_"I hate you," Lita snapped. The door suddenly gave way and collapsed on Chyna. Lita looked up to see Batista standing on the door. _

_"Lita!"_

_"Dave!" He extended his hand and helped her to her feet. "I thought you were dead. Shane was saying..."_

_"No. Nothing Beth couldn't fix." He smiled. "We have to finish this girl off. Wanna give me a hand?"_

_"You know it," she replied with a smile. They jumped off of the door and waited for Chyna to stand. When she did, the fire in her eyes was almost frightening. Chyna charged at Lita who pushed out her hands, and in an instant the room exploded in a beam of white light. Chyna flew backwards, hitting the ground. Lita looked at her hands in horror. _

_"What the..."_

_"Your mom's a goddess, Princess," he teased, with a wink. She smiled and she heard Kane's voice gasping for air. _

_"You take care of Chyna!" she replied, running out of the door. _

_Vince sensed her coming and with a turn of the hand, Lita flew back hitting the wall, her heart stopping on impact. She hit the ground and Vince dropped Kane, realizing what he had just done. "No!" he screamed._

_"Lita!" Candice screamed._

_"No!" Batista ran over to Lita and kneeled down beside her. He checked her heartbeat. "No. Come on, Lita. Wake up! Come on!" He looked up at Candice. "Help her!" They could hear the thunder rumbling outside in the cobalt sky. "Candice!"_

_"I'm trying!" she cried, her voice panicked. "Come on, Lita, you can't die on us. You can't!" With Vince watching the scene, distracted, there was no way for him to see Kane coming up behind him with a cutlass. _

_"Ugh!"_

_They all turned around to see Vince with the cutlass protruding through his abdomen. He stared down at the black ooze that came from his wound before uttering a single phrase, dropping to his knees and lying dead on the floor. _

_"Get Stephanie!" Mickie yelled out to Kane. "Let's get them reunited. See if her mother can help her!" Kane nodded and rushed into the room with Cena to get Stephanie. Meanwhile, a heartbroken Batista picked up Lita. _

_"She'll be okay," Candice assured him, but even she wasn't sure of that. Batista only nodded numbly, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. _

_"Let's just get the family reunited," Batista said, his voice finally taking on a drained tone. Candice nodded. _

_Kane and Cena emerged with Stephanie's statue in between them. "We ready?"_

_"Let's go."_


	21. A Big Decision

Sorry for the long hiatus, Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, and well, I went to be with my fam. Enjoy.

_**Chapter Twenty-One: A Big Decision**_

_The trek back to Lita's mausoleum was a long, arduous journey. Candice led the way, with Maria beside her, her eyes a permanent mark of fear. Behind them were Kane and Cena, both holding Stephanie's stone body. At the very back, at least five steps behind, was Batista, holding Lita's unconscious body. He could only stare down at her, an angelic face even in death. _

_Maria was concerned about Batista. Since their departure from the castle, the big man had not uttered a single word to anyone or anything. He just silently lifted Lita and continued to walk. _

_Maria leaned over to Candice. "Is Dave going to be okay?"_

_Candice let out a low whistle. "I don't know," she replied. "I hope to hell that her parents will be able to help her. But things don't look too good. It was a direct hit she took from Vince." Maria nodded. She felt sort of jealous of Lita; she wished she had somebody who loved her that much._

_They were walking through the graveyard, and Kane could only give a slight stare of satisfaction at his brother. The mission was completed, Queen Stephanie and King Hunter were about to be reunited and with their daughter, no less. _

_Cena stole a look at Batista. "You okay, man?" he asked. _

_"Let's just get to King Hunter," he replied. Cena nodded, realizing that Dave Batista was in no mood to argue. Kane and Cena rearranged the body of Stephanie until they were comfortable and they continued to make their way to King Hunter. _

_Things felt surreal to Candice. Sure, they got Queen Stephanie after all this time, and she was about to be reunited with her husband, but what happens if they can't save Lita?_

_She supposed she had deserved this for not being forthcoming with Lita at all times. Instead, she had played her out as a pawn, and now there was the possibility that she was going to die. Candice felt as though it were all her fault. _

_Pushing open the creaking gates, they continued to walk towards the mausoleum, their heads bowed in somber silence. But it was Batista's silence that unnerved them all the most. He was the only one that had not said a word outside of his desire to get back to the mausoleum. _

_When it was in sight, they could sense the quickening in Batista's steps. Candice's stomach was in knots; there was no guarantee that this was even going to work. She looked at Batista. For his sake, this needed to work. Lita needed to survive. But she was unsure. That was one hell of a shot she had taken from Vince. She shook her head, attempting to take out the image of Lita's flying body. _

_"Almost there," she informed everybody. She knew that was the one thing Batista was going to hear from her. _

_The mausoleum grew closer and closer, and closer, until finally, Candice was prying open the doors. They filed in, Candice and Maria, Kane and Cena, and Batista and Lita._

_"Lay Stephanie down with Hunter," Candice commanded. They opened the casket and laid Queen Stephanie's body next to King Hunter. Meanwhile, Batista lay Lita down on a slab of concrete. While Candice worked over the royal couple, Batista couldn't keep his eyes off of Lita. She couldn't be dead, he reasoned. He didn't get the chance to say goodbye. He didn't get to tell her how he felt. Christ, he wanted to cry. _

_The room exploded in a flash of light and everybody who was in the vicinity of the two – everybody – flew backwards, hitting the ground from the impact of Candice's power. "Jesus, Candice!" Cena shouted at the top of his lungs. _

_"Ohuh?" _

_Slowly, a hand with shiny pink nailpolish gripped the outside of the casket. Slowly, they heard a man's growl. Slowly sitting up, Queen Stephanie came into view. She was a beauty with long brown hair and huge brown eyes. She yawned and stretched. She turned to Candice. "What happened?"_

_"It's a long story," Candice replied, helping the queen out of her casket. She did the same for King Hunter. They both saw Lita laid out and Stephanie uttered a loud cry._

_"What happened to my baby?"_

_"Vince," Candice replied. "She tried to help us, but instead she took a shot. Steph, is there anyway you can save her?"_

_"You're damn right there's a way she can save her," King Hunter roared in his trademark grumble. "Give her a hand, babe." He gave her a kiss on the forehead. He turned to Batista. "Who the hell are you?" He turned around to see Maria and Cena. "Am I missing something here?"_

_"These are the ones that helped find your wife," Candice replied. "Batista here as well happens to be in love with your daughter."_

_King Hunter turned to Batista. "Is this the case?"_

_"Yeah," Batista replied. He had a lot of spunk, big guy. King Hunter liked him already. _

_"Quiet," Queen Stephanie replied. "It's been awhile, I need to concentrate." She slowly rested her hand on Lita's heart. She started murmuring, slow chants in a soft whisper. "Come on, honey, wake up," she replied. "Come on, wake up." Batista, Cena and Maria were standing next to each other, Maria clutching Cena for support. _

_"Come on, Lita...Come on..." soon they were all coaxing Lita to wake up._

_Suddenly, her hazel eyes snapped open. "Dave!" she cried out. _

_Batista rushed over to her. "Oh, God, you're okay," he replied, nearly crying. She hugged him tightly, clutching his shirt. "I thought you were dead."_

_"Dave..." she was sobbing. He slowly let her go and she turned to face her parents. "Mom? Dad?"_

_"You're awake," Queen Stephanie replied. They all group hugged and Lita explained a little about her life in Stamford with Cena and Maria and Batista. But she was soon silenced by King Hunter. _

_"I know this is a happy time, but I believe that you four have a huge decision to make. That includes you, too, Lita."_

_They stared at each other. How big could it be?_


	22. Happily Ever After

Thanks to everyone for reading this. Be sure to check out some of my other stories. Have a nice night or day everybody (whichever time you're reading this)

_**Chapter Twenty-Two: Happily Ever After**_

_"Hey."_

_"Hey." Lita gave Batista a kiss. It had been two months after everything had gone down. Life had seemingly returned to normal. Except for a few things, of course. King Hunter and Queen Stephanie had managed to restore the beauty of the Land of Paradise. The grass was green again, the homes were beautiful, the people were happy and the crops were thriving. The Undertaker had been resurrected and both he and Kane were thriving very well in their chosen field. _

_Lita and Batista had made the decision not to go back to Stamford. Lita didn't really admire her life there all that much anyway. High school, stuck up friends, Eric, she thought she could live without it. Anyway, Stephanie and Hunter loved her to death and spoiled her. Plus, they had taken a liking to Dave immediately. He helped them with some of their township problems or gave them a hand when they needed help. Besides, Lita didn't want to leave Candice._

_Maria had even decided to stay, with John Cena, no less. They had finally gotten engaged and they lived just off of the main castle. Lita had a huge hand in helping with the wedding preparations. She couldn't be happier; Cena and Maria were just too cute together. Anyway, soon the time was going to come where Lita would need Maria and Candice's help in preparing a wedding of her own. There would be many a night where Lita would lie in her princesses quarters, thinking about the names of the children and thinking of the day when she would take over the castle. _

_"Penny for your thoughts?" he asked. She was staring out the window again. Since her near-death experience, she was seriously thinking more about life on the edge. She was more impulsive, a little wiser, and a lot more spunky than usual. He still loved her for it. _

_"Just thinking. You know, one day this is all going to be ours?" she replied as he draped his arms over her shoulders. _

_"Then you'll have the task of keeping this place as beautiful as your mother does," Batista replied. "So, what's tonight's plans?"_

_"Mom and Dad want us for dinner tonight. They're complaining that we're spending too much time at Maria and Cena's." _

_"So sue us," he pouted. She laughed. _

_"Come on, we might as well get changed and go downstairs for dinner." Batista nodded, gave her a kiss and left. She quickly changed into a blue evening gown. _

_One day, she would rule it all. _


End file.
